5 Inter-Related Profitable Ideas for 2014 and Beyond

This edition of my blog is dedicated to predicating the future with 5 Key Inter-related Ideas that we will ignore at our own peril as a humanity. These ideas have already taking root in our societies, no matter which part of the world we live in.  These ideas are foundational to the future of human existence.

We are at a fork in the road in our existence on this planet where the choices we make will significantly impact the Quality of Life.

It is our responsibility and accountability to be participative in shaping people, societies and enterprises to meet the future with conviction and courage. This calls for leadership from every individual and section of society. Everyone needs to make a significant effort to be able to participate in building the society of tomorrow in which the next generation can responsibly take forward the promise of the human race.

It is not a choice, it is an imperative.

Digital Revolution

Digital Revolution is and will continue to impact our every action in our every day lives; the way we exist on this planet. It is almost as though digital technology has replaced the earliest and most important invention of the human race; fire. In today’s life the only friction that one needs to use is the slight brush of the index finger against a stylish mouse pad or a remote switch in order to ignite fire to a suitable range and temperature. We are already witnessing everything around life being scheduled and managed digitally. Whether it is Entertainment, Education or Establishment. Of course, digital revolution is still in its infancy but its idea has taken root in the deepest corners of society and there is no escape from it. Like all revolutions, Digital Revolution brings with it the good and the bad. Should we be responsive humans, we will learn from the mistakes of the past and not let them repeat in the future. There is much to do from a constructive perspective to connect digital revolution to life and companies that have taken an early lead such as Google, Samsung, Apple, Tesla, Intel and General Electric to just name a few. These companies have themselves touched just a very small fraction of the scope and opportunities it represents. Many others are on the frivolous edge and will probably never make a difference beyond a few years of hype.

Innovation must be focused on creating enterprises that will become a part of life and be centric to the existence of humans. The verticals of Education and Healthcare will drive the greatest and most important benefits of Digital Revolution to shape the growth of society and humankind; is our considered opinion. Digital Revolution must transition from being a play toy that causes productivity loss to making it a toy play to boost productivity gain.

Globality

Globality is a coined word that finds definition in Wikipedia as the end state of globalization. The journey of globalization began with the invention of the principles of  “Force of Buoyancy” by Archimedes during his lifetime, which is dated as Circa 287 – 212 BC that led to shipping which became the first connection to the different parts of the planet through the medium of water. The Wright Brothers of course shortened the time and increased the comfort of travel with their building an aircraft and this journey is now culminating with the invention of the Internet around 1955. Where we are today is that people can connect from exactly wherever they are with whoever and whenever they want 24X7X365 without even the lag of Nano Seconds.

This connection will influence and shape life and politics around the globe and truly bring democracy to be exercised without the gatekeepers of the treasured Knowledge of history and Evolution. Governments and their related agencies must become more active in modernizing and extending themselves to this concept of Globality without losing their relevance. There is the danger that Human Progress itself could be thwarted if this phenomena of Globality is not addressed with the urgency it deserves. The Process of Innovation Management must be a globally inclusive one that recognizes the need to create and at the same time manage demand concurrently.

A Regenerative Gen Y

As the end of life expectancy of the baby boomers is coming to an end the new millennial or Gen Y is taking root in society, the confused in-between generation that has spent most of its life looking to create a better standard of living has failed miserably in transferring values to the new generation. This new generation is intelligent, impatient and to a point impertinent.  They form the backbone of our society in the immediate future through being the workforce that creates wealth. This generation lacks the right insights of human history and has not experienced the trauma and turbulence of social upheaval. They have been raised in relatively higher levels of comfort than the past generation and are generally perceived to lack in empathy with humanity. They are very nuclear in their instincts for thriving and surviving and need to be re-wired to the concepts of Community, Collaboration and Contribution. Cultural Transformation will need to be a major agenda at the Societal and Enterprise level to make life not veer from bad to worse.

The previous generations were only self destructive to a large extent with their drugs and depression but this new generation if not handled with Care and Compassion would wreck havoc in society with their selfish zeal that they have learnt as an acceptable norm from their mediocre previous generation.  The above ideas of Digital Revolution and Globality can become weapons of mass destruction in their hands as opposed to being tools of social construction; should Cultural Transformation not be addressed seriously.

Experiential Autonomy

The talk around everywhere is the experience of a consumer. With the digital revolution and the globalization and a wave of entrepreneurship driven by the idea of becoming rich, the idea of innovation has focused solely on the sale side while the problem has been on the supply side.  The B2B, B2C, C2C or P2P business models did not discover experience being centric to human nature. It is a very foundational principle of life.  Humans learn only through experience and it is rather unfortunate that as society and technology have progressed, humans have lost the ability to literally smell the roses. Individuals, Families, Governments and Commercial Enterprises have focused on elevating themselves to a higher level of income and status by just selling; not building capabilities. That is the reason why we haven’t seen innovations that have led to foundationally shaking society and leading them to a higher quality of living. This needs to be changed and the only way this can happen is to start focusing on Potential rather than Performance.

The emphasis on Performance has constrained people and enterprises to not have the time and design for building the potential and creating a higher threshold of capabilities. In its absence, the word Innovation has become the most abused in the English vocabulary. Experiential means addressing the Emotional Response and therefore the Emotional Quotient (EQ) intended at the time of creating a Product, Process and / or Service. Innovation that focuses on Potential will address Causes while Innovation that addressed Performance will only address Symptoms. Isn’t it clear where the shift needs to be accelerated?

Societal Wealth

Creating societal wealth is not a utopian state but an absolute necessity. Look around us and you will realize that we are fast depleting our resources but that does not in any way stop our consumption process. The reason why governments have had to increase tax rates is because of a lack of societal wealth. The modern day conflicts and increased military spending can be cut down with the focus shifting to collaboration and cooperation that includes an inclusive dialog of Environmental Resources and Natural Resources. Despite all the attempts at Conservation and Sustainability Movements that are enabled by Individual & private enterprise, it still requires huge amounts of resources to sustain and succeed and facilitate humans all over the planet. There have been attempts at Public –Private Partnerships but a well-discoursed Framework of Processes must guide these initiatives. It is not enough to fashionably discuss at World Economic Forums. It is imperative to define roles and make participation a joyous exercise. This will create avenues for Societal Wealth and consequently personal wealth. In the absence, the social inequalities resulting from oligopolies and monopolies will never cease to exist. True talent in societies will never get opportunities to express and renew growth. This implosion is more harmful than any nuclear explosion as its affects will be fatally destructive for succeeding generations and life on planet itself.

The present day manifestation of terrorism is just a representation of the dissatisfaction and inequality of the distribution of societal wealth. It is the responsibility of every individual, enterprise and government to address societal wealth not from the narrow definitions of Charity, Philanthropy or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These efforts must be embedded to the Core processes of the business that demonstrate how they create social wealth in the societies where they participate and how these efforts contribute to Social Fairness and Economic Justice that help communities thrive with dignity and grace.